Just Because We Do What We Do
by gally1
Summary: An old team member needs help. But will a cover up and lies break up the crew, or will it make the unit stronger. Ash/OC, Mickey/Stacie, Mickey/Emma & Emma/Danny. Please read and review.
1. Chapter 1

**A/n: Hi everyone. Got another bug whilst I'm still attempting to finish off my other stories. Hopefully you'll like this too. Please read and review.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anyone or anything apart from those characters that are of my own creation.**

Chapter 1

Stacie Monroe sighed heavily as she took her friends hand between her own and massaged it with her thumb. "I'll have to talk to Danny about this."

"Please, anything. I'm absolutely desperate, Stacie. When that man finds me, my body is likely to be found at the bottom of the Med. I don't know what else to do." The usually strong minded, charismatic, confident girl that Stacie had remembered from over ten years before had morphed into the bullied, down trodden woman that now sat before her.

"Imi, what has he done to you?"

"Nothing, Stace. Please leave it eh?"

"You trusted me enough to find me. You trust me enough to tell me about your son. And yet you haven't got the balls to tell me, let alone show me, what that Greek bastard has done to you. I'm your friend, Imogen, the same as Mickey is, the same as Albie. The same as Ash, even."

Imogen Baxter shook her head, her long dark chocolate brown bedraggled hair which now reflected a hint of grey fell around her face as she did so. "Huh, Ash!" She laughed in despair. Would her heart ever stop breaking into smaller pieces every time she heard that name? After all, he had been the reason she'd run away in the first place. Found herself running into the arms of a man that would just about do, that wanted her as she was, until he got that ring on her finger, the wedding band that he believed gave him carte blanche to do exactly what he wanted to her whenever it suited him.

She looked up to Stacie, her friend's eyes full of concern for the battered hollow shell that she had become. She stood up, her fingers on auto pilot as she began to undo her blouse before allowing the rich mocha coloured, silky fabric to fall from her shoulders and pool at her feet.

A key in the door signalled Danny's unexpected return, "Oi, oi, Stace. Didn't tell me I'd be missing some girl on girl action," he smirked, Stacie rolling her eyes at him as she attempted to shield her friends body by placing her own lean figure in front. "Caught you up to no good, eh?"

"Don't be your normal disgusting self, Danny. Go back out for a bit will you?"

A meek voice from behind startled them both, "it's ok Stace; if he needs convincing then I'd rather do this in one sitting."

Stace turned around, "are you sure?" Imogen nodded. "Introductions first then. Danny this is an old friend of mine, well of the team to be exact from when she worked the long con with us. Her name is Imogen and she deserves a little respect. Imogen, this is Danny, my current ..."

"Partner!" Danny suggested, offering his hand to the half naked woman.

"Colleague!" Stacie finished, watching the two shake hands. "And he deserves very little respect, even though he is a damn good grifter some of the time."

"Ooh, they're nasty bruises aren't they?" Danny asked, as sympathetically as he could.

"And I'm pleased to meet you too, Danny." There was still a little life left in the old girl yet, her tone dripping with sarcasm.

Danny continued his surveillance of her upper back, "shit, is that a ...?"

"Nice burn. God, that looks nasty," Danny's comment had alerted Stacie to the truth she hadn't necessarily wanted to see, but now Imogen had decided to trust them enough to be showing them the evidence, she had little other choice. Scabbed wounds criss-crossed over her back, some patches of skin still bore angry bruises from her last battle with her husband, but Danny was pointing out a large burn just above her left shoulder blade.

"It was, not so much now," Danny and Stacie looked at one another, so they hadn't both just imagined that badly hidden whimper, "it was worth it though."

"Worth it!" Stacie screamed, "worth it. Your husband burns you with a cigar and all you can say is that it was worth it?"

Picking up her blouse, Imogen re-clothed herself. She looked Stacie in the eye, "it was either me or my son. I decided that it was better for me to be the one to be punished."

"Ash would never ..."

"Ash didn't want me!" Her head in her hands, Imogen sobbed.

Stacie's heart went out to her, her own eyes filling with tears. She stepped over to her friend, her arms encircling Imogen's racking shoulders. "I'm sorry, I didn't know." She whispered.

"Have I just walked into some kind of Stepford Wives does horror?"

"Shut up, Danny!" Stacie warned.

"No, please. Will somebody tell me what the hell is going on?"

"Shut up, Danny!"

"Wait, Stace, he deserves to know the truth, especially if you're going to help me."

"We'll help, won't we Danny?" He dared not say no with the look that had just crossed Stacie's face. "After all, grifters stick together. I promise you Imi, George Liakos won't know what's hit him."

**.oOo.**

"Danny we have to go to London, we have to go and speak with Mickey."

"She doesn't want him to know."

Stacie was exasperated enough. For a while now the con's that she and Danny had been pulling hadn't been working out quite as they had planned and the local cops seemed to be taking a particular interest in them. Perhaps a little time back in London would set them straight again. "She doesn't want Ash to know. Slight difference, Danny."

"All the same, Stace, we tell Mickey, Mickey tells Ash. One way or another he's gonna find out."

"And we can't do anything without a fixer, can we?"

Danny shook his head, "problem is even if you can convince Mickey not to say too much to Ash, they're all gonna know when they're looking at the mark's details. Then there's the other slight problem of how we're gonna explain the boy?"

"Perhaps I could say he's mine."

"You been shining your light, Stace?" Danny smirked. "Hold up, give me that picture again." He studied the photograph. "He's got my colour eyes and hair, he could be mine?"

"I don't think so."

"He could be my nephew. Uncle Danny, showing him the ways of the world, I like the sound of that."

"In your dreams, Danny. And I don't think I'd like to see what Imogen would do to you if you handed him back as a miniature version of yourself."

"Why? What's wrong with me?"

"Do I really need to spell it out? Maybe I should pretend to be his aunt instead."

"What do you know about kids?"

"Not a lot." A sudden thought came to her, she smiled. "Hang on; we really need to keep him at arm's length, don't we? Who would be the perfect person to help us out and if anyone should ask who the boy was he could say he was staying with him over the holidays, cheap labour or something?"

Danny grinned, knowing exactly who she meant. "Eddie."

"Right, Eddie. Ok, I'll divvy up what we've got and book the flights. London here we come."

"Yeah, great." Danny smiled; it would be good to see the old place again even if it meant taking orders from Mickey. But if they were going to take down this Greek bloke then they'd need all the help and expertise they could get, not to mention attempting to get the job done before Imogen was hurt again or worse. "Stace?"

She was busy sorting out plane tickets on the internet. "Hmm?"

"How long do you think we've got?"

"In what respect?"

"Well, until Imogen's found."

"She's clever, Danny, but once the cash she's got runs out Liakos will have the power and influence to find her and quickly too. A month maybe, six weeks at best I should think. I've given her some of savings to give her as much of a sporting chance as possible. America's a big place to get lost in, but Liakos has friends everywhere. It'll only take one person to see her."

"Best get a move on then, I'd hate to think that that little lad had to grow up without his mum because we couldn't ... well, you know."

"Yeah," she smiled. For all his bravado Danny did have a heart, "Mickey has never let us down yet."

**.oOo.**

When Imogen had questioned herself about where to go it had initially been a struggle for her, having decided that her best course of action was to not stop at any major city her next advice for herself had been not to stay in any little towns either. After all, George had many friends in many places and most of them had something to do with one Mob or another and wouldn't think twice about shopping her to him.

At least Tom was safe, or relatively at least, having handed him over to Stacie that morning before Stacie, Danny and Tom had taken their flight to London. No one within George's friends or acquaintances had ever taken much notice of the son that wasn't his or so he'd always claimed in front of them. When George had found Imogen, she was alone, abandoned, heavily pregnant and wanting. He was happy to oblige her every need, at first. Then when she'd given birth he'd changed, she tried to coax him into having time for Tom so that the youngster would have a bond with a father figure, but it wasn't to be. The boy had been allowed to fade into the background and left to his own devices, he'd even been sent away to school when he'd become old enough. And for her, that had been the most heart wrenching day she'd ever had to cope with until that morning, saying goodbye to the lad and hoping that it wouldn't be long before they were reunited.

Wafting the newspaper in order to aid her body to cool down, she contemplated her next move. If only she'd been able to use a proper hotel with air conditioning but that was impossible. They now demanded credit checks and she was even finding it difficult in some of the motels she was choosing to use. But she'd found this roach house and it would do for a few more days.

She lay down on the bed, hoping that sleep would eventually claim her but she was out of luck; the temperature didn't help and all she could think of was Ash. What was it he'd always say? "You know I don't do heat." And nor did she now even with all the years she'd spent in Greece. She could honestly say that Alaska suddenly seemed very appealing.

Ash. Tears slid from her eyes, the only thing that she couldn't stop herself from doing in her remorse for losing the best man she had ever encountered. She remembered her words as if she'd said them the day before, "just because we do what we do, doesn't mean we have to be on our own." But that had been the nail in the coffin, the one last thing that had made him run for the hills; leaving her all alone. She'd have gone to him if she'd thought it would've made a difference but knowing that it wouldn't even scratch the surface she had done the only thing she could do. She'd left.

She considered her position, what would she do when she finally did get her freedom? No one would want her that was for sure, her bruised and battered body lay testament to that. Not Ash, not anyone. She carried so much baggage that it would be impossible for anyone to break through the veneer. It wasn't just what lay on the surface. She was broken inside too, George had made sure of that; raping her, abusing her, kicking her into touch, causing untold damage and several miscarriages. She could no longer bear children. What kind of asset would she be to another lover? She was truly only worthy of one thing, the scrapheap.

Finally, as the sun descended toward the horizon, she was able to close her eyes and dream. Dream of a different life, of a different set of circumstances and of a man that loved her. She'd only wished that instead of choosing to run away from him she'd made the decision to stay, to find a way to make him change his mind. And for a few moments, in her mind's eye, she was blissfully happy lying in his arms, his hands roaming over the bulbous belly that carried their child, their words of love being spoken unconditionally as they realised their future was to be together whatever happened. It may have only lasted a few moments but it was enough to see her sliding off into a deeper sleep where she was safe from harm and George Liakos.

**.oOo.**

As it was still half an hour to opening, Eddie briskly went about his usual business of setting up shop before his well earned tea break. Whistling to himself he pulled the last of the clean glasses from the glasswasher and proceeded to dry them with his cloth. "Hello stranger," the wonderful tones of Stacie Monroe's voice dripped with honey collided into his subconscious, he'd often wondered what had happened to her.

"Oi, Eddie!"

Eddie shot round to look at the two grifters propping up his bar. "What the bleedin' 'ell are you two doin' 'ere?"

"Thought I'd come and see the only man I miss," Stacie simpered, a long finger nail drawing a line under his chin.

"Well, you can bleedin' sod off again, the pair of ya!"

Stacie and Danny looked at each other in mock surprise and hurt. "Do you know, Stace, of all the places in this town that I'd thought I'd not be welcome in again, well this sure as hell wasn't one of them."

"What do you want? An' all drinks 'ave to be paid for," he pointed to a sign on the wall, "by order of the management."

"Oh, Eddie, are those other grifters still not paying their tab."

"Oh, no, Stacie." He grinned. "They are now part of the management, with me like."

Danny looked quizzical, "who are?"

"Mickey an' Ash, they both 'ave a stake in the bar."

"Shit," Danny exclaimed.

"Shit!" Stacie agreed. "Look Eddie, we need a favour. Well not us exactly, Imogen Baxter."

"Imogen Baxter, wow, 'aven't 'eard 'er name in a while. Not since she an' Ash fell out anyway."

Danny pouted, "am I the only person that doesn't know about them?"

"Danny, stop acting like a child, maybe one day when you've grown up a bit I'll tell you the story but until then please keep quiet." Stacie turned her attention back to Eddie, "All you need to know is that she ran off and married a Greek."

"Who's been an absolute bastard to her."

Pinching the top of her nose, Stacie stared at Danny. "Do you want to tell Eddie?" She watched him shake his head. "Right. She married this Greek, he knocked her about, and she ran away with her son. She found me and asked me to look after him whilst also asking me to help her get her life back from her husband. Well I can't do both and besides she doesn't want Ash to know ..."

"She doesn't want Ash to know what?" Mickey Stones' fixer stood with his hands firmly punched into the pockets of his jacket, a rolled up newspaper under one arm and a boy of about ten years by his side. "Found this little lad upstairs on your doorstep Ed, you starting a workhouse?" He grinned, crow's feet creasing at each side of his bright blue eyes.

"Somethin' like that, my sister's eldest come to stay with me for the holidays, 'aven't ya?" The boy merely nodded and walked over to 'Uncle' Eddie.

'Thank you' mouthed Stacie across the bar before turning to her old friend, he now stood with arms open waiting for her to hug him. "America had enough of you and Danny, then?"

"We've had enough of it," she countered, tottering over to him, throwing her arms around him and kissing him squarely on the cheek. "I've missed you Ash."

"Me too, Stace."

"How's everything?" Danny interrupted. "We hear you and Mickey have bought a share in the bar."

"Well, you know how it is, the previous owner went bankrupt due to several large unpaid bar bills. We just decided to make sure that never happened again. Although Albert's been known to try and get away without paying on occasion." Ash laughed.

"And Mickey?"

"I wondered how long it would take you to ask me," Ash smiled over to Stacie. "He's good, we've got a couple of kids working with us and things are going ok with them. They're quick learners and taking to it like a fish out of the proverbial. I'm sure he'll be glad to see you though. Here for a job are you?"

"Kind of, need to speak to him privately though first, see if he can help out. Any idea where I can find him?"

"Buckingham Gate, Churchill Suite."

"Thanks Ash," she kissed him again as he took a seat at the bar.

"What on earth have you got mate that earns you two kisses from her when I don't even get a look in?"

"Danny, you're not still trying?"

"Always, Ash. Always."

**.oOo.**

There really was no reasoning with him sometimes, "Mickey, she's our friend, a fellow grifter, we have to help her."

"And get caught up with the Greek Mob in the process. No, I won't ask them to do that."

"Why not? We used to have a democratic vote in this team, what happened to that?"

Mickey eyed Stacie suspiciously. "Why are you letting this eat you up so much?"

"Because ..." She bit back the words. It was real but somehow saying what she was about to say would make it positively genuine.

"Because?" Mickey coaxed her.

"Do you know what he is?"

"A Greek drug baron with lots of friends who would think nothing of even giving you a concrete overcoat."

"No, Mickey. He's a thug, a bully who loves to kick her, to punch her, to throw her down stairs. She miscarried you know," she was stood with one hand on her hip, a defiant look on her face whilst tears threatened to fall, "he tried to tell her that she'd got pregnant as a result of having an affair. He punched her to the floor, kicked her stomach, threw her against the wall and that was all before he'd even asked her if it was true. He and some of his cronies had raped her beforehand, Mickey." She shook her head, "she can't even have children anymore." The tears fell splashing over her pallid cheeks. "How would you like it if someone had done that to me?"

Mickey folded her into his arms. "Come on Stace, no one would."

She pushed away from him taking a position by the open window. "Wouldn't they? Can you be totally, one hundred per cent sure of that? I'm sure Imi never imagined it could happen to her. Thank God she had Tom before all of this started.

His eyes studied her face, "Tom?"

"Her son, Mickey. Who'll look after him when she's not around or not able to look after him anymore?"

Stacie was wretched; Mickey went to her, pulling her close once more. This time she didn't object so he planted a kiss onto her forehead. "Ok, I'll have a word with the team; if they vote yes then we'll help out."

"There's just one thing," slowly Stacie began to calm down. "She doesn't want Ash to be involved."

"But he's got to be, he's our fixer!"

"I know, but you've got me and Danny, too!"

"Neither of you can do what he does. No one can, that's why he's part of the team." He closed his eyes momentarily, "right. Let me think about it, there may be a way that I can involve him without him knowing everything. Leave it with me."

She kissed him briefly on the mouth, "thanks, Mickey."

Watching her move towards the front door of the suite, he smiled. "You're more beautiful than I remember, Stace."

"Thanks, Mickey." Her hand hovered over the door handle, contemplating if she should say anything more. "Did you ever take up with anyone?"

"No, haven't got time for all of that." He watched her nod in agreement, a smile touching her lips. "Did you and Danny?"

No more words were needed for Stacie to understand his meaning. "No, you've got to be joking." How could he ask her that? "Let me know then as soon as possible, whatever you decide."

He watched her leave, already trying to ascertain angles that could be appropriate to a con that would bring down an extremely powerful man. It wouldn't be easy, he knew that, and he would need his team with him wholeheartedly including Ash. But first things were first, he needed to find Albert and find him quickly.

**.oOo.**

Mickey's impatient pacing outside of 19 Old Broad Street astounded more than one of the members of the City of London Club as they passed by him on their way in or out of the huge 19th century building that towered up above them. He was already trying to think of ways to get to George Liakos without the need to tell the team everything but he knew that would never work, the only way to get to any mark was to know everything about them before they started. That way, if a problem arose it was easier for them to find a way out.

Finally he stopped and looked up meeting with the very amused and quizzical expression upon the face of his former mentor and team roper, Albert Stroller. The American quickly descended the steps, "and to what do I owe this unexpected rendezvous?"

Signalling for a cab, Mickey took Albert's arm, guiding him into the waiting vehicle. He sat down beside the older man, giving his directions to the cabbie before settling back. "Albert, we have a problem."

By the time they had arrived at their destination, a small wine bar situated close to Gray's Inn, Mickey had relayed Stacie's news to Albert. Sitting outside and away from prying ears Mickey began sipping at his espresso watching Albert as he steadily moved the glass of whiskey around in a circular motion; a gesture that meant Albert was deep in thought. He pursed his lips whilst squinting his eyes at Mickey, finally he spoke. "It seems to me that we need two meetings."

"Two meetings?" Mickey asked perplexed.

"Yes, we need one to gather the facts as they are from Danny and Stacie whilst informing Emma and Sean what is required of them. I'll keep Ash out of the way on that one; take him to the races or something. Then we'll have another ..."

"To relay the facts as if it were a normal con and seek acceptance by way of a vote. We keep Danny and Stacie out of this one so that Ash doesn't become suspicious, and then we can utilise them behind the scenes as and when required."

Albert smiled, "exactly!" Resting back into his seat he took a grateful sip of his whiskey. "This information isn't wholly unsurprising to me."

Mickey studied Albert for a moment, "how so?"

"I remember Imogen's father asking me to talk to her after she'd came home with the news that she was to become Mrs George Liakos. Indeed, I was shocked myself to learn this and endeavoured to reason with her but she was unfaltering if a little nervous. I feel responsible, Mickey."

"Albert, she made her choice. When she came to me to tell me she was leaving the team I tried everything to stop her. But she was always so determined in everything she did. I couldn't keep her and you couldn't save her even though we tried."

"No, Mickey. When I spoke to her she didn't appear to be as forthright as she had always done before. And when I asked her what had happened with Ash she kept quiet. Mind you, so did he; he never has told me what happened even though I asked him several times up until he met with June.

"And Imogen must have been at least six or seven months pregnant by then so the child obviously wasn't the Greek's. Maybe Liakos already had some kind of hold over her by then? Knew who the baby's father was? Although I'm sure she still would've been the Imogen we knew her to be before she married. I mean, she only stopped seeing her parents after she'd married Liakos and then they went to live in Crete." Another slug of whiskey passed Albert's lips. "Is she in a state?"

"According to Stacie she's been punched, kicked, thrown about, had several miscarriages, can't even have children anymore."

"Is there evidence to back it up?"

"Yes, Imogen showed both Danny and Stacie, she has a roadmap of scars across her back, bruises that have not yet healed from the last kicking she got and a rather large cigar burn because she accepted her son's punishment in his place."

"Dear God. So why doesn't she want Ash to know?"

"Hmm," Mickey's index fingers tee-peed in front of his face, "that's what I'd like to know and until we can get close enough to the woman to ask her we'll never be sure."

"But we can hypothesise. What would make a woman run from her lover?"

"If he hurt her, like Liakos has done."

"But we both know Ash isn't capable of such atrocities. What else?"

"When she knows that they don't have a future together?"

"A strong possibility, especially considering that the only time I ever heard Ash talk about the con being a lonely existence was after she left."

"So, he grabbed hold of the opportunity the next time it came around. _Just because we do what we do doesn't mean we have to be on our own._"

"Yes, he grabbed with both hands, Mickey. After all, he married June and was very happy for a while. But that still doesn't really account for Imogen running off the way that she did. We both knew her to be so feisty and there was no doubt that she was very much in love with Ash, so why didn't she stop and fight for him?"

"Perhaps she knew she was flogging a dead horse."

"Yes, perhaps. But she was almost certainly carrying Tom at that point, given his age."

Mickey laughed. "I can't believe she cheated on Ash."

"Oh, she didn't, I'm sure of that."

"You're suggesting that Tom is Ash's?"

Albert nodded, "absolutely."

"So why run?"

Albert's look became distant, "apart from you and Ash, I've only ever heard one other person say that little sentence you just uttered."

A realisation hit Mickey. "You mean Imogen."

Albert nodded. "Now, let's go to Eddie's and scope the boy out if we can, he may just give us a few clues as to who his father really is." Getting to his feet Albert began making his way towards the kerb in order to flag down a taxi, "we're never going to truly know until Imogen tells us one way or another but there's no harm taking a look now is there."

"No, I suppose you're right. But the one thing we mustn't do is tell Ash what we think. Not yet anyway." Quickly finishing his coffee, he joined his friend in the taxi. As they rolled away they watched as a bemused landlord stood at the threshold of his bar wondering how a couple of customers had avoided paying for their drinks. Mickey made himself as comfortable as he could against the hard leather, "because if Ash ever finds out what Liakos has done to Imogen, ex-girlfriend or not, he is going to want to murder Liakos in cold blood."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/n: Thank you to all of you who have found my new story and tanks to HandyMelon for your review. Hope you like this next bit. As always, please r and r.**

**Diclaimer: All characters and situations belong to Kudos and the BBC, except for those that are explicitly mine.**

Chapter 2

Ash Morgan paced the living room, his hands deep in his trouser pockets bunching his jacket up around his waist. "Albert, we're gonna miss the first race," his usually cool demeanour fading rapidly with each second that passed by.

Emma looked up towards him, her temporarily discarded magazine lying in her lap, "you ok, Ash? You seem a bit agitated."

In truth, he didn't really know what he was feeling. Although Albert's unexpected invitation to join him at the races had been welcoming, Ash still couldn't shake the feeling that there was some ulterior motive. Albert never asked him to join him unless there was a very good reason for it. Perhaps his head was way out of kilter on this one, but then it seemed a little coincidental with the also similarly unexpected return of Danny and Stacey. What was going on? He dropped his head in his usual gesture, "I'm fine, Em, nothing to worry about. Could just do with a day off." She smiled briefly before returning to her article on the latest Jimmy Choo's.

He looked at his watch, the crows feet at his eyes contracting as he inspected the intricate gold hands moving effortlessly around the black numerals and white face of the only possession he'd been given after his father had passed away. He sighed, thinking back to the time he'd received it from his sister, marking the last occasion he had ever seen her as well. "Em, would you miss Sean if he wasn't here?"

Briefly looking up from the magazine she smirked, "of course, he's my brother."

"But surely it must get a bit ... claustrophobic sometimes."

She sat back, her attention now fully on Ash. "Sometimes, but it does living with all of you on occasion. Sometimes it would just be nice to have this place all to myself."

He let out a breath, "yeah. So what if you met someone?"

"Impossible, I'm a grifter. We have to be able to walk away from situations in seconds, remember? Besides you already know the answer to that, you were married."

"Didn't last though, did it?"

"Any particular reason?" She asked sympathetically.

"I don't know." He shrugged, his eyebrows sky bound, "June was a good friend, the best."

"Friends don't always make the best lovers." She smiled absently, thinking of another such friend.

"No, but they do make great ham, tomato and mustard sandwiches," he said grinning, his arms now crossing his chest, "never been able to get them right since she left."

"She left you?" He nodded, "ever ask her why?"

He nodded again, "yeah, she told me that in my heart I loved another."

"And did you?"

Emma was able to read it in his face before he said anything, his smile giving him completely away, "yeah, but I blew it. Didn't know how I felt about her until it was too late. Found out she'd married someone else, had a kid with him and all." The latest sigh was the heaviest of the lot. "Do you know why I keep doing this?"

"Because you're our fixer." Emma exclaimed, he shook his head, "because you enjoy it?" She asked hopefully.

"Nah, it's 'cause I've got nothing else to do. Oh, listen to me please. Yeah, I do love it and it's the only way I know to make money. But I still thought that I'd be married by now, maybe even with a family of my own."

"You've still got plenty of years in you, Ash."

"Have I? Don't see it myself. Can't even remember the last time I had a proper date?"

"Perhaps you need a break? A little alone time in order to recharge those batteries?"

"Well today will be a start then, if Albert will hurry up." He said raising his voice on the last bit of his sentence.

The older man rushed out of his room particularly flustered and very apologetic, "I'm sorry Ash, Sean was in the bathroom for so long I thought he'd taken root. We really do need to get a bigger suite; one bathroom between four alpha males just isn't enough."

Emma smiled sweetly, "you could've used mine, Albert."

"Oh no, my dear, a woman's boudoir is a domain I never venture into, too personal. You never know what you might find in there."

Ash laughed, "can't believe you'd turn red rustling through a ladies knicker drawer, Albert?"

Albert sidled up to Ash, his hand patting Ash's shoulder, "it's not the knickers you have to worry about, that's extremely enjoyable most of the time. It's all the other stuff. Makes a man quite perplexed." He headed for the door, a much more relaxed Ash following close behind still giggling. "Come on, my boy. We'll never make the first race if we don't hurry."

As the door struck the latch, Emma got up, her attention now on one thing. Finding out what exactly was going on. Strolling out onto the balcony she took a seat waiting for Mickey to strike up a conversation but nothing was forthcoming from the man in his usual pose, looking out across the city. She decided to try herself. "The sky is full of pink windmills and my mother was actually a transvestite named Ralph."

"Sorry," was the response, Mickey's stance unchanging.

"I said ..."

He turned, his beautiful dark eyes searing into hers making her heart leap into her mouth, "I know what you said, I just wondered why you said it?" He asked, before beaming at her.

Another jump of her heart and butterflies in her stomach, she straightened her hem, her eyes leaving his. She hoped it would buy her enough time to regain some control, "Ash seems a bit under the weather."

"Oh, how so?" Mickey took a seat next to her.

She closed her eyes; his proximity to her was now way beyond the comfort level that she was used to. She needed to stop this before it got out of hand. "I think he needs a break."

"Do you? Why?"

"He doesn't seem himself, he's remorseful."

"Remorseful? Ash?"

"Yes. Telling me how he'd always imagined being married with kids by now and that it hadn't worked out with June because he was in love with another woman. A woman that he didn't know he loved until she'd got married and had a kid of her own."

"Interesting."

Emma sat back a little, her face questioning him, "interesting?"

Mickey smirked, "yes, you'll see why soon enough. And, if you think Ash could benefit from a few days off then we'll make sure he gets it. We've got extra help coming in on this next con anyway." Emma knew there was no point asking anything more of Mickey on that point so didn't bother. "Em, wouldn't you like to get married one day? Have a family?"

"I've got one already, I'm still bringing Sean up."

Mickey laughed, "we're all bringing Sean up." His tone changed once more, "have you ever thought about it."

"Have you? Again?"

"Actually, I've thought of little else in the last twenty four hours. A friend I hadn't seen in a while ..."

Emma didn't like the way this was going, "oh yes?"

He smiled, he could always recognise Emma's jealousy, he'd seen it so often before in both Emma and Stacie, "yes, well, she's back, for a while, and I've been thinking about spending some time with her. Would you mind?"

'_Yes'. _"No, of course not Mickey. We're free to do as we please; we're not tied to one another or anything, are we?"

"No, we're not." He said a little regretfully, it wasn't only Ash that didn't seem to have what he wanted. "I just wanted to make sure that you're ok with it."

"Mickey, we're only human, we've all got needs. Except Ash, who must be super human because we never seem to see him with any ladies." She smiled up at him briefly, "he definitely needs to unwind, get those ideas out of his system, and take lots of women to bed. He's not a bad looking man and he's got plenty of charisma, I'm sure in the right place they'd flock round him."

"Em, that's not his style."

"Maybe he should just get himself a girlfriend for a bit then instead. Take her away on long dirty weekends. Maybe I'll suggest that to him."

"Leave him be, he'll find his own way." Mickey's hand steadied on her arm, his mouth by her ear he whispered, "you never answered my question."

She looked him dead in the eye, "I guess I would one day, I always imagined having someone love me and look after me, have a kid or two. But not yet, I'm far too young for that."

Mickey's hand cupped her cheek, their foreheads touching. "Yes, you are," he said, the meaning behind his words conveying a message that she didn't want to hear him say but knowing it to be true. She was too young ... for him. She pulled away, springing up from her seat and moving back towards the suite. She looked back briefly understanding too well that they would never likely fall in love as she had hoped for for so long now. She knew, surprisingly, how Ash felt and immediately regretted any decision she had made about not spending time with Mickey. After all, if life wasn't for living then what the hell was everyone doing here? This was where it stopped, if Mickey didn't want her she'd find someone that did, and she'd see if she could help Ash into the bargain.

A loud banging was heard on the front door as she crossed the threshold into the room, she could hear voices as Sean allowed Mickey's guests to enter and knew that he was now hovering behind her awaiting their arrival upstairs in the living room. Mickey slid past her meeting his guests at the top of the stairs and bringing them over to introduce them to her.

A hand shot out in front of a vertically challenged man with sandy coloured hair and bright blue eyes. "Danny Blue's the name and grifting's the game!" he said, grinning as a loud female groan was heard behind him.

"Did you think of that all by yourself?" Emma smirked although taking his hand and shaking it heartily, "Emma Kennedy."

"Enchante, Emma." Pulling her arm towards him he kissed her knuckles.

"I don't sleep with people I work with."

Danny's grin faded, dropping her hand he pouted shooting a derisory look at the other woman in the room who was deep in a private conversation with Mickey. "Where have I heard that before? Is it another grifter rule that I've not heard about?"

Emma was less than pleased about the situation herself realising that the friend Mickey had been referring to must have been the beautiful woman that now stood before her, all legs and long brown hair. She couldn't compete with that. "And you are?" She tried to keep her tone as light as possible.

"Stacie Munroe, Mickey and I go way back."

"Right," she tried at nonchalance but that wasn't working either. "Emma Kennedy, pleased to meet you."

"Oh, Kennedy?" Stacie pointed towards Sean, beaming. She was definitely sharp.

"Yeah, Sean is my younger brother." If Stacie wanted to eat him for breakfast then Emma would make her think twice. But with the simpering looks she was still giving Mickey there was obviously only one bed Ms Munroe wanted to find herself in. Emma looked to Mickey, "do you think we could get down to business? Perhaps you could start by letting Sean and I know why Albert and Ash have gone out and Stacie and Danny are here in their place." She took her usual spot on the sofa, he brother taking the chair and draping his lean figure over it.

Mickey took a seat next to Emma who physically moved a good six inches away from him. "Stacie, would you like to take the lead?"

Stacie took some papers and photographs from her bag and handed them to Sean, he looked through them before passing them to Emma. "Oh my God." Emma exclaimed, as quietly as she could.

"You could say that, Danny and I decided that there needed to be some hard evidence so we took these before we left," Stacie's smile had faded. "That woman is an extremely good friend of mine and Mickey's. In fact she became a part of the crew about twelve or thirteen years ago alongside Albert and Ash as well. She came and found me last week begging me to help her."

"What does she want?" Sean asked, wincing at the pictures whilst looking at them a second time.

"She wants her life back, Sean. She wants her freedom. She also wanted her son to be kept safe."

"The boy staying with Eddie?" Emma suggested.

"Yes, there are no flies on you, are there Emma?" Stacie gave the blonde the once over.

Mickey shot Emma a winning smile, "no, she's a very smart cookie." He turned his attention back to Stacie, "reminds me a bit of you."

"Charmer!" Stacie returned his look, "anyway, I'm hoping by now that Albie has managed to speak to her in order to make arrangements for her to come home."

Emma turned her attention to her brother, "were you holding Albert up this morning by taking ages in the bathroom?"

A quick flash of anger pierced Sean's face, "no! Why?"

She turned back to the group. "I would suggest he has, kept Ash waiting for nearly half an hour this morning before they went off to the meet."

"Albert's taken Ash to the races?" It was now Danny's turn to wince, "hope he's got lots of cash on him."

"Yes, well," Stacie attempted to get the focus back, "her name is Imogen Baxter, was Baxter, now Liakos, she married a Greek bastard by all accounts who regularly takes pleasure beating her up."

Danny rifled through some of the pictures and picked out one passing it back around the group. "See that burn?" They all nodded, "Liakos was about to punish the boy for ... well for being a boy doing boyish things. Realising that Tom might be subjected to a similar fate to what she was already used to she pleaded to take the punishment herself. He, er?" Uncomfortable with what he was about to say he turned to Stacie for support but she was already unable to help, tears flooding over her cheeks. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, "He stripped her top off of her in front of everyone, underwear too, a hired thug on either side of her keeping her still. He got his cigar and well he did that." Pointing at the spherical puckering on her skin. "Liakos made her son watch."

"Shit," Sean sat back into his chair, "what kind of man does that to a woman?"

Mickey agreed, "I've often wondered about that myself, he's obviously a bully."

Emma looked up from the picture, her heart in her mouth, "it's more than that, it's about power and control." She hesitated for a few moments. "So where does Ash come into all of this, unless of course, she's the woman that he didn't know he loved until it was too late."

"God, even she knows something?" Danny piped up.

"Only what Ash told me this morning, I've just put two and two together ..."

Mickey smiled at her, a friendly hand resting on her knee, "and come up with five, as usual." He stood up taking the lead, "I knew Imogen from school, and she was very creative, set for great things. Whatever she put her mind to she achieved, her exam results were exceptional, so much so that she won a place at Oxford. The next time I met her was when Albert had heard great things about her and how rich she was becoming, I set my sights on getting back at the girl that had stood me up at a school disco." Danny sniggered, Mickey carried on, "Albert attempted to rope her but she wasn't having any of it. Knowing that she would recognise me we sent Ash in to try and work his magic. She called his bluff and asked to see me, telling Ash that she'd expected a little more from the great Mickey Bricks."

"She knew what you were up to?" Sean asked.

Mickey nodded, "I took her out to dinner, asked how she knew and she told me that I should never underestimate her. She was right too, within two days she bought us a mark and worked the inside with me. She had the mark so screwed up in knots he didn't know whether he was coming or going and we got more out of him than we ever planned to. She had a knack of making anything seem positively glorious with her manipulation of the English language. I even had to insist she dumbed down a bit on some jobs." He laughed, thinking back to a time when she'd managed to blind them all with her jargon.

"I remember that," Stacie joined in, "shame she wasn't any good at hypnotism. She had Ash reeling for weeks after she'd tried explaining the intricate workings of the circuit diagram of a cordless kettle, wasn't it?"

"Mmm, that's right," he giggled, "she'd told him that it could be wired up to make some kind of solar energy saving device, but of course it couldn't. It kept Ash happy for weeks though, every spare minute he had he'd go over the thing just to make sure that he was right. When he finally swallowed his pride and asked her about it she told him that she'd give him the answer if he took her to dinner."

"I'm guessing dinner wasn't the only thing she got?" Danny piped up.

"It was on that occasion, yes. But it didn't take the two of them long to become as thick as thieves and eventually the predictable happened and they got together."

"It was very sweet actually," Stacie conveyed, "they were great together, I thought it wouldn't be long before I'd have to buy a hat. That was until Ash ..." She stopped suddenly.

Emma looked up from the photographs she'd still been studying, "Until Ash what?"

Mickey took up the tale once more, "until Ash decided that he wasn't good enough for her."

"That he was too old for her." Stacie cut in.

"That they just weren't right together. He talked himself into believing he didn't want her and when he realised he did really love her, she'd disappeared. It wasn't until some years later, when he met with an old friend from inside that he found out what had happened to her, that she'd married and had a child. Although I don't think he'd be too impressed to find out that Imogen's father had asked Albert to reason with her and ask her not to marry Liakos before she actually did."

"Wait, Mickey?" Stacie gestured, "when did you find out about this?"

"Yesterday, after I'd spoken to you I went to find Albert to talk to him about the whole Imogen not wanting Ash to know scenario. It was then that he told me."

Danny whistled. "That's really going to put the cat amongst the pigeons. I really wouldn't want to be Albert when Ash finds out."

"Ash won't find out," Mickey said matter of factly.

Throwing the pictures onto the table Emma sat back, her arms folded defiantly in front of her, "oh yes he is. It's inevitable."

"I have a horrible feeling she's right," Stacie confirmed.

"And how exactly is it inevitable, Em?" Mickey asked.

"Because you're all too close to it. We're here now talking about this woman, Imogen," she pointed to the pictures, "so that we can understand what it is we need to do to get her away from that malicious bastard she calls her husband at the moment. Then, we're going to hide all of this information away from Ash so that he believes we're just on some ordinary blag taking this Greek bloke down. When he realises that he's not being utilised as much as normal he's going to start asking why? If he's not already. And what about when he finds out whom exactly George Liakos is? Has anyone of you ever stopped to consider the possibility that he is still in love with Imogen even after all of this time. Not to mention the fact that his son is currently being looked after by Eddie as large as you like."

"Wait, Tom's Ash's kid?" Sean asked. "But I thought he was Eddie's nephew?"

"Oh, Sean, don't tell me you can't see it, you only have to look at him to see his father's eyes looking back at you."

"Emma, we don't know if that's true," Mickey pleaded, "Albert and I have discussed the possibility that he could be, but until we confront Imogen we're not likely to know if our conjecture is correct."

Stacie picked up her bag, pulling out a document that looked remarkably like a birth certificate, "actually we don't need to ask her." She passed the certificate to Mickey.

"But how did you?" Mickey looked appalled.

"I went down to the records office yesterday and filled out the form. I'd already got Tom's details from him and I took an educated guess at the father's name. I paid the fee and went back today to collect it. Anyone can do it if they have the correct information."

"Well?" Emma asked, holding out her hand so that she too could inspect the document. Mickey passed it to her. "That confirms it ... Ash is Tom's father."

"She could've just put Ash down as the father. He might not actually be the boy's biological dad." Sean stepped in.

Stacie rolled her eyes. "Oh please. If she just wanted a name for her son, she'd have put Liakos down, or rather nothing at all. The only she would put Ash on the paperwork is if he is truly Tom's dad."

Standing up, Emma walked over to the drinks stand, poured herself a generous shot of whiskey and downed it in one go. Turning back around she eyed Mickey, Stacie and Danny in turn before leaning her petite frame forward over the back of the sofa, her hands gripping the fabric. "You three are asking me to lie to a man that does not deserve to be lied to, and I'm not sure I'm entirely happy about that."

"It's for the best," Stacie argued, "at least until Imogen arrives anyway."

"But she's adamant that she doesn't want Ash involved, and now we know why?" Emma picked up the certificate and waved it in the air before dropping it, the paper floating down onto the ground and under the sofa, forgotten. "Well, I'm not going to lie to him." She spat out, staring at Mickey, "I won't. I won't impart any information to him, but if he asks me a direct question I won't lie. That man has been nothing but honest and true to both me and Sean since we arrived. In fact, he's the closest thing I've ever had to having a proper father myself. There is no way that I would ruin the trust we have for one another."

"Nor me," said Sean, getting up and standing by his sister, "I'll help out, do as I'm asked but I'm with Em, he asks me a direct question and I'll answer him, honestly."

Mickey nodded, "ok. I can't ask for anymore than that. And I won't. God knows this is going to be messy enough if he finds out."

"Mickey, it's a question of when not if. Not only has he been lied to by the woman he loves, concealing his son away from him for 10 years; but he's also been lied to by the four people in this world that above anything else he considers to be his family. I really don't want to be around when the fall out happens because he is not going to be happy with any one of you. And then when he finds out what Liakos has done to Imogen ..."

"I know, that's what worries me the most," Mickey confided, "Ash is going to want to kill him. And rightly so, but I don't think anyone of us actually wants to see him spend the rest of his life rotting in a jail cell. That's why we need to protect the truth as much as possible until Liakos has been taken down and Ash is better able to deal with it. Yes, there's going to be fall out but we also have to employ damage limitation."

Emma shook her head, "damage limitation? Are you nuts?"

"No, I ..."

"Have any of you stopped to consider that in this case honesty may very well be the best policy?"

"Imogen doesn't want us to do that," Stacie pointed out.

"I know, but hang what she wants. We're supposed to be a crew, the best crew, but how can we be if one of the cogs is slightly out of line? And considering that Ash is the fixer how on earth do you think we're going to cope without him?"

Danny looked up, "she's got a point, you know? Quite a good one too."

"I think we should put it to a vote. All those in favour of telling Ash the truth." Emma's hand shot up in the air.

"Em?" Mickey warned.

"It's a democratic vote, Michael." Her hand was now joined by Sean's and then Danny's. Emma grinned. "Three to two. We tell Ash."

Smugly, Mickey sat down, "actually its four to three against."

"How do you work that one out?" Emma's smile had faded into an angry pout. Her hands on her hips.

"Well, if Albert were here he'd vote against you."

By now Stacie, Sean and Danny had all taken their respective seats once more. "That would be a tie, then. And Ash would vote with us, obviously he'd want to know the truth."

"Ash can't vote as it affects him directly. Our casting vote would be that of Imogen."

"But she's directly involved too."

"Yes, but we wouldn't be discussing it if it weren't for her in the first place and as it is her express wish that Ash not know just yet then we have to say that she would vote with us."

"Has anyone told you how ugly you become when you have to win?" Tears threatened to fall but she held them back knowing that in a few moments she would get the solace she needed to let them flow, "you conceited bastard. You may have won this one but be warned Mickey I won't let you win so easily again. He's our friend and we should be doing the right thing." She stomped off toward her room.

"They are both our friends," he called out after her retreating figure, "we need to do the right thing for them both." His smiled caved. "Ok, the next meeting we have will be after I've spoken to Imogen. We need an angle and as she is the person that knows her husband best then we'll allow her to give us an in. I'm sure she'll already have a few ideas anyway, seeing as she knows how to play the game. Right, we've got a few days holiday, let's use them wisely."

**.oOo.**

The light rapping on the bedroom door evoked a heavy sigh from the occupant of the room, "piss off, Mickey, I don't want to see your arrogant arse again today, thanks very much."

"Er, it's not Mickey," the unmistakable voice of Danny came through loud and clear.

Emma sat up, noticing the black mascara stain that now adorned her pillowcase. "Shit," she muttered, scrambling off the bed and scouring her drawers for a wet wipe.

"Can I come in, please?"

Throwing the used wipe back into the drawer and pushing it home she got to the door, plastered a smile onto her face and opened it. "Yes?"

"Um, there's something I'd like to ask. In private if I may."

She held the door open wider but blocked the entrance. "You don't strike me as the kind of man that usually bothers?"

"No, well ..." She moved out of his way allowing him to cross the threshold, pushing the door too behind him. "Thanks."

"No, thank you, Danny."

"What for?" He eyed her suspiciously.

"For voting with Sean and me."

"Well, I think you're right. Ash is going to blow his tree when he finds out what the hell has been kept from him." He walked around the bed, taking a seat against the window ledge, "he can be a callous bastard sometimes."

"Sorry," Emma asked, before noticing she hadn't turned over her pillow. "Oh."

"You didn't deserve that, Emma. If it makes any difference though, I think he's sorry."

"And so he should be. He's making a rod for his own back and everyone else's too."

"Well, to be honest, I don't much care about Mickey." Danny's raised voice shocked Emma; he calmed himself looking down at his shoes. "Look, I'm not here to talk about him. I'm here because ..."

Emma couldn't resist smiling at his apparent awkwardness, "Because?"

"Well, I'd ... I'd really like to take you out ... somewhere ... nice," he shrugged, "if you want to, that is, go out with me." He smiled, his boyish charm shining through.

"You're asking me out on a date."

"Yes, if you'd like to. And please don't give me any of that I don't screw people I work with bollocks."

"Why? And I didn't say screw I said sleep with."

"Yeah, whatever." He met her gaze, she was teasing him. "Why what?"

"Why me? Why now? It's not to get back at Mickey is it?"

"What? No? Bollocks to him. Look, if you must know, it's 'cause I liked the way you stood up to him. You didn't let your feelings for him cloud your judgement."

"Well Ash is important to me."

"I know, they all are, I can see that. I suppose I'd like to think that I could be as important to you."

She smirked, "oh yeah?"

He stood up before moving towards her, "you might not believe this but I think this might be the first time when I've really wanted a woman's respect." She looked dubious, "a real Ash and Imogen moment."

"I'm not sleeping with you Danny."

"I'm not asking you to."

"Good. Ok."

"Ok?" She nodded at him, "right, well, I'll come round about eight?"

She nodded again, opening the door up for him she watched him sidle down the corridor. None of it had been lost on Mickey either who had been on his way down to see Emma himself. "Danny?" He stopped, winking at Mickey as he turned back towards her. "Where are we going? What should I wear?"

"Dinner and a club?" He asked, watching her face light up at his suggestion. "What you've got on would be fine."

She shook her head as she watched him walk away. Noticing that Mickey had restarted beating a track to her door she replaced her smile with a scowl. "Not now, Mickey, I've got to get ready." His face was shocked as she slammed the door behind her.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/n: Thanks to Molly Hunt for her review and to Handymelon for telling her about my story. Lovely to hear that you're enjoying what I've written so far, just hope you enjoy the next bit too. If I've got to pop the rating up then it will probabaly go up on the next chapter or chapter 5 so fair warning now. Please, if you're enjoying it the review.**

**Disclaimer: All characters and places belong to Kudo and the BBC, apart from those that I have created myself.**

Chapter 3

It had taken her about a week but she had done it. And now that she was on English soil she took a deep breath thanking her stars for getting her there safe; for her new false name, Bettina Hardwick; an auburn wig, green contacts and the £2000 pounds and gold ladies Rolex with at least a carat's worth of diamonds she had found, courtesy of her transatlantic flight neighbour in seat A20.

Having bought a cheap pay as you go phone from an airport vendor with some of her cash, she'd proceeded to pick up her bag and catch a taxi into London. She paid the cabbie what he was due and stepped out onto the Embankment, the welcome sound of Big Ben chiming in the background. She'd missed this place.

Taking the two phone numbers from her old phone and plugging them into her new handset she dismantled the old phone, dropping the bits into the Thames, before ringing her old friend. "Hi, Stace, I've made it."

"Great, Betty. I've managed to get you a junior suite at the Royal Lancaster Hotel at Lancaster Gate under Mrs Stacie Henry, can you get there?"

"Yes."

"It's all paid for, I'll speak to Albie and get him to come and see you tomorrow with Tom, tell him to text you with a time."

"Thanks, any cover?"

"Only that you're agoraphobic."

"That shouldn't be too difficult then. Bye." She turned on her heel in order to make her way to Embankment tube station but stopped suddenly, jumping back as a small group of men walked past her muttering obscenities at her as they walked on.

A man now sat in the previously vacant seat, a cigarette to his lips, seemingly deep in thought. A couple of girls walked by; one stopped and asked him for a light, which he gladly obliged before telling her to be safe and get back to her friends. If 'Betty' didn't know any better, then that man was Ashley Morgan, he'd aged a bit in ten years and a distinguished silver had taken over his side burns but there was no mistaking the voice, she looked around her, anywhere other than looking in his direction. "You ok, love?" He asked. Their eyes met, his were full of concern, "are you alright?"

"Just not sure where the underground station is from here," she lied, laying on her best Australian accent whilst hoping and praying that she'd never used that in front of him before.

"It's just over there on the other side of the road, around the back of the bridge." He pointed behind him.

"Oh, right. Thanks." She smiled briefly before wandering over to the pedestrian crossing and punching the button.

"Do you know where you're going?" He asked now by her side crossing the road together.

"Once I get my bearings, I'll be fine."

"It's alright; I'm not being weird or anything. Just don't like to see a woman on her own. You got someone meeting you wherever you're going to."

"Yeah, I'm good thanks." Looking out for the Northern line train, she stopped and turned back to him. "Look, I'm sorry if you thought I thought, well, that you were weird or something. I can tell you're not. I'm ok now; I know where I'm going and my boyfriends meeting me off the train."

He seemed satisfied with that, "right, good. Best be on your way then, don't want to keep the lad waiting." He smiled at her, the lines around his eyes creasing together. He looked so charming that it took everything within her to remember what she was supposed to be doing instead of wanting to jump into his arms and demand he take her to a hotel nearby. She took a couple of steps backward smiled, turned and walked away as quickly as she could. She could feel her palms sweating and her heart hammering away in her chest. Even after all of this time how could he still have that kind of effect on her?

She got to the gates realising that she'd have to buy a ticket from one of the machines. Not being used to them she fumbled her way through the menus trying to find her destination but failing miserably. "Where are you going to?" A familiar voice said behind her.

"Lancaster Gate." She said a bit quickly. Maybe it had been the wrong thing to do but she couldn't take it back now.

"Rich boyfriend, eh?"

"Yeah, something like that." She agreed, attempting to covertly pull a ten pound note from the large stash of cash she had on her in her bag. She handed him the note, his fingers brushing over hers as the money changed hands. A discreet look passed between them but nothing was said as he handed her her ticket and change. "Thanks, again."

"My pleasure, now go. Get to that boyfriend of yours before he sends out a search party." He grinned at her. She held out her hand for him to take but he kept his thrust firmly into the pockets of his jeans, the tension only easing when she allowed her hand to drop away. "He's a lucky bloke." He gestured, before turning on his heel and walking from the station.

As she made her way through the station she contemplated the events as they had happened, surely he had no way of knowing who she was. After all they hadn't seen each other in a little over ten years. But there was no mistaking that look he'd given her, she'd seen it before so many times. It had always been his little way of telling her that he didn't quite believe her but he'd let her run with it for a bit, at least until she was ready to tell him the truth.

A train pulled in just as she'd walked onto the platform so she made her way onto the train, finding a quiet set of seats, away from a group of girls shrieking about their anticipated night out and far away from a young lad with music pumping out of his headphones at what seemed like two hundred decibels.

Noticing her reflection in the opposite window as the train passed through the blackened tunnels, she saw a sad, lonely, middle aged woman looking back at her. What had happened to make her feel so miserable? This morning she had been happier than she'd been in a long time, knowing that she would be soon reunited with her son and hopefully rid herself of her evil husband. Even earlier that evening she'd found herself overjoyed at the prospect of being back in the city that she had always called home from the first moment she had ever lived there.

She looked old, gaunt, drawn in, dead almost, but not quite believing that Ash could've been the cause of her despondency. Perhaps knowing that she would never have him in her life was making her feel and look the way she did. Perhaps he had recognised her beneath the red hair and the green eyes. "How could he have done?" She asked herself. Both she and him looked physically older and whilst he had put a little weight on she had lost a lot from her face. In truth she had lost a lot from her whole body, there was no way he could've recognised her.

By the time she'd got to her hotel she was already in a state and as she came to check in she nearly forgot her assumed name. But she was soon within the confines of the suite Stacie had laid on for her and as she inspected the apartment she found that someone had been generous enough to leave her several changes of clothes, shoes, some jewellery, a varying selection of makeup and toiletries and a bottle of her favourite perfume, one she'd not seen or smelt in years. Further investigation found that there was a generous fruit basket and a cold meat salad in the fridge along with a couple of mini bottles of a fairly inexpensive white wine that she'd heard of but not yet had the opportunity to taste.

However, her first job was to get herself clean and after pulling the wig from her head and removing the lenses from her eyes, Imogen Baxter slipped her aching body into the shallow waters and cascading bubbles of the bath she had run for herself. She'd not had a bath in so long it felt like heaven, the only thing missing was someone to rub her back for her. The tears welled as her heart ached, "oh Ash, if only you were here."

**.oOo.**

Ash was a man in deep contemplation by the time he'd reached Eddie's. As he perched himself on a stool at the bar and sipped at his drink he went over the events of late that didn't seem to add up to him. The first had definitely been Stacie and Danny's unexpected arrival as well as Eddie's nephew turning up the same day. It hadn't seemed right that Eddie had left the lad on the doorstep and as he took the boy down into the bar there had been Stacie's unfinished statement followed by an unusual awkwardness. '... She doesn't want Ash too know ...' He never had found out who or what he wasn't supposed to know about and Stace was rarely on her own long enough for him to confront her about it.

Then there had been that day he'd gone with Albert to the races. Albert had been decidedly quiet, too quiet really. Almost as if he was making sure he wouldn't say the wrong thing to Ash. And it hadn't stopped there. By the time they'd got home, Mickey and Emma were barely saying two words to each other and no one was really saying anything to him. In fact, it felt distinctly like they were all treating him with kid gloves. It had been a bit of a surprise to see Danny taking Emma out but he'd wished them luck all the same. But again he wasn't able to get more than two words out of Emma when Danny had finally dropped her back. Even when he was in the bar Eddie was zipped quiet too. Something was definitely up.

He picked himself and his drink up and walked over to the booth, six pairs of eyes looked his way as he sunk what was left of his drink, slamming the glass down on the table. "I haven't got a bleeding clue what is going on or why no one is talking to me but if I've done something wrong then I'd sure as hell like to know what it is." He looked around everyone in the group. "Come on, Mick, what's up?"

"Nothing, Ash. Everything's fine, we're all just a bit wary of this next con."

"Hmm, you haven't even told me about that yet either."

"All in good time. Emma seemed to think you needed a holiday, we're just giving you a bit of space so that you can relax without all of us messing with your head anymore than we normally do."

"Right, well just so long as we're cool then."

"We're cool, Ash. Look, go home, watch a bit of TV, put your feet up, relax and sleep for a bit, I know how much of an insomniac you are when we're working."

"Ok, I'll do that." Ash seemed railroaded into it but if it was what Mickey thought he should do then maybe he should try it. "I'll see you all later then."

He slowly meandered up the stairs, if they were going to say anything then it would be when they'd thought he'd gone. He opened and shut the door, giving the impression that he'd left, but staying at the top of the stairs in order to catch any of their conversation. "I told you," he heard Emma say, "honestly is the best policy but you wouldn't have it, Mickey, would you? Now the poor bloke thinks we all hate him."

"He doesn't think that," Mickey tried reasoning but in his heart he knew that Emma was right. "Soon we'll know what con we're playing and then perhaps we can talk a bit more freely, even with Ash."

"It won't work. We need to tell him everything and we need to tell him soon, otherwise I dread to think what he'll do."

"Emma, he's not going to do anything."

"I don't know Mick," Danny put in, "she's been right so far. It's not going to take much for Ash to be pushed just that little bit too far, especially considering how we've all just seen him react."

Mickey let out a long breath, "Albert, when you see her tomorrow get as much info as you can from her. Then, if it feels right to push it, start applying a bit of pressure, try and make her change her mind about letting Ash know."

"Thank you, Mickey," Emma said. Ash opened the door once again and left as silently as he could. So they were keeping someone from him and Emma didn't appear to be too happy about it. Tomorrow he would instigate a conversation with her, try and see if he could ply her for any information that he could confront the rest of them with.

As he came out of Eddie's he hung a left instead of taking a right and going towards the apartment. He wasn't one for putting his feet up and relaxing in front of the box anyway and he felt like he needed a good dose of fresh air.

Making his way onto the Embankment from Lancaster Place he walked the short distance passed Cleopatra's Needle and under the Hungerford Bridge, weaving in and out of assembled groups of young men and women as they decided where to party next. If slightly envious of their youth he didn't show it, acknowledging them with a smile as he passed them by. He loved this part of town, especially at this time of the evening when things were just starting to come alive as darkness descended. Autumn would soon be upon them but that didn't matter, the revellers would still be about and he would continue to take up his silent watch, ready to step in and break up a fight if he needed to. The plate in his head wasn't only useful for 'the flop'.

It was then that he noticed a woman standing close to the river's edge, throwing what appeared to be bits of a phone into the river. Perplexed, he took a seat on the vacant bench, lit up a cigarette and carefully watched her. She dialled a number, waiting for it to be picked up before speaking and, totally unaware as she was of him scrutinising her, he was able to examine her profile as she spoke. From his situation he could see the left side of her face but it was the voice that held him fast in his seat. "Hi, Stace, I've made it ... yes ... thanks, any cover? ... that shouldn't be too difficult then. Bye." Not only had her face involuntarily made the kind of signs that only a lover would notice but he'd have known that tone anywhere; it wasn't just a coincidence that she had spoken to their mutual friend. But take away the red hair and the indeterminate eye colour that from his position he couldn't quite fathom and it was definitely her, even if a little thinner, it was Imogen. The woman that no matter how much she tried to disguise herself he knew every inch of.

Ready to go to her aid if needs be as she stepped into the oncoming path of a group of lads, a couple of girls on their way to a party passed between them all, one stopping briefly to ask for a light. Being his usually gentlemanly self, he pulled the stainless Zippo from his jacket pocket and held the glowing flame up towards the end of the girl's cigarette. Having being thanked by the girl profusely he told her to keep herself safe and get back to her friends.

His eyes now rested on the redhead again, what was she up to? For someone as intelligent and quick witted as Imogen had been, this version of her appeared positively agitated. Perhaps he should have been more wary of the lads that she'd nearly walked into? Perhaps they'd said or done something to shake her up a bit? He tried to keep the concern to a minimum but it didn't work, his first question to her was laced with it. "You ok, love?" He asked, believing that she hadn't heard him until she raised her eyes to look directly into his. "Are you alright?"

He watched her falter, wondering if she was deciding what to say to him. "Just not sure where the underground station is from here," Ah so that was it, trying to decide how to disguise her voice, one of the oldest tricks in the book. It had also been a shame that he'd remembered spending hours perfecting it with her and knew instinctively which words she'd never managed to sound authentic Australian. And then to lie to him on top of that, he knew damn well that this wasn't only one of his favourite haunts. They were like two peas in a pod.

Turning in his seat a little he pointed behind himself. "It's just over there on the other side of the road, around the back of the bridge."

"Oh, right. Thanks." He watched her make her way to the pedestrian crossing, her jean clad arse sashaying away from him. The urge to say something was overwhelming but he bit it back, losing the words as he severed the contact by closing his eyes.

The next thing he knew he was out of his seat and crossing the road with her, the signals beeping away in the background letting them both know they were still alright to cross. "Do you know where you're going?"

"Once I get my bearings, I'll be fine."

She seemed genuinely fearful of him, how could that be? She must have recognised him, surely? "It's alright; I'm not being weird or anything. Just don't like to see a woman on her own. You got someone meeting you wherever you're going to."

That hadn't come out quite as he'd expected it to but it seemed to allay any fears she may have had considering that she had stopped and was now looking directly into his soul once more through the green lenses she was wearing. "Yeah, I'm good thanks." He noticed her searching for a sign. "Look, I'm sorry if you thought I thought, well, that you were weird or something. I can tell you're not. I'm ok now; I know where I'm going and my boyfriends meeting me off the train."

Well as long as someone was looking out for her he'd play along, not that he believed it, "right, good. Best be on your way then, don't want to keep the lad waiting." He smiled at her, a little more than he felt was necessary but he just couldn't help himself. He noticed a spark flash behind her eyes and waited for her to respond to it like she had done so on many occasions before; but instead she took a couple of steps backward, smiled, turned and walked away as quickly as she could from him. He felt disappointed and dejected but nothing could move him from that spot, continuing to spy on her as she hesitated at the gates before going to the machines and pressing at an inconceivable amount of buttons, she obviously hadn't used the tube in a while. She was in need of a rescue and he was just the man to do it. "Where are you going to?"

"Lancaster Gate." She said, without hesitating. She'd regret that.

"Rich boyfriend eh?" He joked as he punched in the right journey and pointed out the fare to her.

"Yeah, something like that." Unconvinced as he was by her reply he still felt the pang of jealousy settle in his stomach. She was trying desperately to pull out one note form the fistful she had in her bag he noticed, where on earth had she got all of that cash from? Not to mention the gold watch on her wrist? As she handed him the note, his allowed his fingers to brush over hers in a manner that looked accidental. Electricity shot up his arm and he felt the jolt tug at his heart, his head angled towards hers as a discreet look passed between them. Nothing else was said until he handed her her ticket and change. "Thanks, again."

"My pleasure, now go. Get to that boyfriend of yours before he sends out a search party." He heard himself say as he shot her an affectionate grin. She held out her hand for him to take but he couldn't bring himself to shake it, not yet anyway, keeping his hands thrust into the pockets of his jeans. "He's a lucky bloke." He said as an end to their conversation, before turning on his heel and walking from the station. From his viewpoint by the station entrance he was able to watch her walk through the gates and walk down towards the Northern line.

He followed her, a pocket picked oyster card from a young reveller allowing him access through the gates, ambling to the platform and waiting for the train that she had stepped onto to just about leave before slipping onto a carriage further back. He held back at Holborn station waiting for her to disembark before doing the same himself and following her to the Central line train that would take her to Lancaster Gate. Once again he held back and joined the train as it was about to leave and once again as the train arrived at her destination he watched her leave before following behind.

As he pursued her out of the station he couldn't help but consider what had happened to her. When they'd first met she had been sharp, vibrant, gifted to a fault and sometimes better than Mickey at doing what he did best. But this woman that he now tracked didn't seem to be a patch on the one that had left him all those years before. His Imogen would've have had his balls in a vice by now, she'd have picked up on his scent and have turned his following her on its head. The hunter would have become the hunted. But the new Imogen didn't seem to have the same instincts as the old one and it left him feeling shameful and oddly cold. She was vulnerable and he didn't like praying on her inabilities. For someone that Mickey had loved to tease into dumbing down once upon a time, they now would have to reinvigorate her senses in order for her to shine like she once had.

It was a short walk from the station that had him ending his chase in front of the Royal Lancaster, he whistled, even he'd never been bold enough to try getting anyone in this place. The doorman held the glass door open for him and he passed over the threshold, his eyes everywhere looking for the woman that he'd spent the last twenty minutes tailing. Wherever she was, she wasn't in the lobby and that allowed him the opportunity to find out where she was from the front desk. But first, that meant getting hold of a key.

Walking through to the bar he found a bloke that seemed to fit the bill. His attention was on the barmaid but he was a city type, greed perspired out of every pore and as he drummed his key card against the woodwork, Ash dropped his heavily laden wallet unnoticeably as he wandered by. It fell with such a thud that the man had no option but to drop his key onto the bar in order to stoop down and pick up Ash's wallet, calling after him. He turned around and upon noticing the wallet in the man's hand he went to retrieve it. Insisting on buying the man a drink he laid the wallet on top of the card and palmed it, putting it into his pocket as he walked away; the city man sipping gratefully on his free drink.

Arriving at the front desk he asked the receptionist to check for any mail. Not remembering his room number it meant that the receptionist had to go into the back office and use a reader to ascertain it by swiping the key card. It gave Ash ample time to quickly go through the records and find out which room Imogen was occupying. He found her under an alias, Stacie had obviously told her to use her name and the bill for the next two weeks had been paid in full.

By the time the receptionist had returned to the front desk there was no one in sight and it looked like nothing had been touched. She shrugged her shoulders as a young city type wandered over and asked if anyone had handed in a key.

Ash hailed himself a cab and sat back into the seat. Things began falling into place, Stacie's, Danny's and the young lad's appearance obviously had something to do with Imogen being back in town. And the reason they were probably all keeping quiet when he was around was so as not to arouse him to that fact either. Ok, if that's what they wanted then he'd play along but he didn't have to like it. Why would Imogen's close proximity to him cause such a commotion, unless there was something more sinister?

But he couldn't believe that, so she'd got married and had a kid, so what? Lots of people did and lots of people also got divorced too. He only had to look at himself to know the statistics on that particular score. He couldn't fathom why she wanted to keep away from him though, not that he was going to let her get away with it that easily. But first things first he had some groundwork to put into place and that would mean one or two covert operations.

By the time he got home he was surprised to find that no one was up in the living room. Stopping by the drinks stand he poured himself a generous shot of whiskey and took a seat. He nursed the glass as he sat back, resting the base against his chest, his free hand and arm stretched along the back of the sofa, an ankle resting over bended knee. There were a few things he needed to know; obviously Imogen was the woman that didn't want Ash to know something, but what? And what was it that had Mickey and Emma at each other's throats? Probably one in the same thing going by Emma's need to make sure that Ash was told the truth, but why? And what was the truth? Did it really matter anyway, he was sure that he could handle most things but it would clearly have an impact if both Imogen and Mickey wanted to keep the truth from him.

Well, the first thing to do would be easy; he would ask Emma a couple of pertinent questions. Knowing that she didn't want to lie to him he knew he'd get some of the truth. Then, maybe, he'd speak to Imogen, confront her with what he did know and hopefully the rest would come from her. He knocked back the drink allowing the warmth to sink through him before getting up and making his way to bed. Tomorrow would be a day for truth and knocking down these barriers that the crew had inadvertently put up, he only hoped that he could keep control.

**.oOo.**

Ash hadn't had a particularly easy night's sleep. In truth he'd never really slept well since June had left. A vast emptiness in his bed had never had cause to calm him unlike the warm, nurturing body of someone that loved him and wanted to take care of him, he'd always slept well then.

His only respite had been at about half two, his mind thinking back to the red hair and green eyes of the Imogen he no longer knew and how she had reflected his own loneliness. Perhaps he was getting sappy in his old age, but yeah, if he had to admit something then it was an innate fear that he was going to be left alone, living in a pokey bedsit on some housing estate like 'Liability' Finch. It had rattled him when he'd visited Finch with Mickey, now it really had him reeling.

So he'd thought about her, thought about how much of a fool he'd been to let her go, about the chances of him being able to get her back and how he would go about doing it. He'd closed his eyes, envisaging her in his arms, her beautiful face turned towards him, gently nipping at his chin and lips with her teeth, causing him to laugh when her hands tickled over his chest and down over his stomach. Her hazel eyes with their flecks of gold would search his asking him silently to make love to her and he wouldn't hesitate, plundering her mouth with his and taking her to heaven. Dreaming of her had allowed him to catch a few hours sleep until worry and agitation had brought him awake once more.

He'd got up then, pacing his room for a while and looking out onto the world below him from the vast picture window. He showered and got dressed, going out for a little while in order to get himself a paper. He fixed himself a cappuccino upon his return noticing that most of the crew had by now gone out. He settled himself into the sofa in order to read the early morning news and racing form sipping away at the frothy coffee as he did. It was the first time he had relaxed in what seemed like forever. Thinking about Imogen had obviously done the trick during the night and he only hoped that his insomnia would get better if he continued in the same vein. Perhaps having her back in his bed would be the perfect solution?

"Morning," he said brightly to whomever was walking up the stairs.

"God, how come you're so chirpy." Emma complained. It was rare that Ash ever saw any of the others in their nightwear but he had to admit it, she looked endearing, even in her oversized satin kimono dressing gown that almost drowned her tiny frame and the thick fisherman's socks she wore on her feet.

"I managed to get a couple of hour's kip," he held his arm up in order to invite Emma within it. She sat next to him, her feet curling up by her side.

"Wow, who was the lucky lady?" He eyed her suspiciously, "what? Sex is always a good way to unwind, Ash."

"Good God, is that what you think happened ...? Nah, Em. I didn't sleep with anyone. But I'd be lying if I said I hadn't been thinking about it."

She smirked. "Oh, right."

"What happened to you then?" He asked, concerned. "Why are you not your normal breezy self?"

"Danny happened to me." Ash looked shocked, "whoa, Ash. I didn't sleep with him."

"Good, 'cause if Mick finds out he'll ..."

"He'll what? Make my life more of a living hell than it already is?"

"That's hardly fair, Em."

"And I thought out of everyone you'd understand. All Mickey has done is mess about with my emotions, flaunt his attachment to Stacie in front of my face and then act like the jealous schoolboy when Danny shows me some attention."

"You did tell him you weren't interested."

"But then I told him I was, we were going to have dinner, he nearly kissed me once too but he pulled away from me."

"Oh," Ash pouted, it seemed that grifter's never seemed to have an easy time with love whoever they were. "So what exactly are you doing with Danny?"

"Having a good time and living life to the full. Danny knows where he stands in my reckoning. The first night we went out it was very conventional, very pleasant and he walked me home without any preconceived notion about getting me into bed. I actually think he's trying not to mess this up with me."

"You're not playing with his emotions, are you? Even Danny's got feelings, you know?"

"I know and I'm not. I do like him though." She smiled absently.

"Just be careful."

"I will Dad, promise." She kissed him on the cheek, noticing a smile appear on his face that she was sure she'd not seen in weeks. "So this woman that you were thinking about? Who is she?"

"Never you mind." He grinned, his cool blue eyes twinkling.

"Oh come on, Ash. Promise I won't tell." She said coyly.

"Imogen."

"Imogen?"

"The woman I was telling you about. The one I messed up with. The one who's back in London." She shook her head in response. He had to hand it to her, she was a good little actress, "come on, Em, you know who I'm talking about."

Her eyes said it all as they fell away from his face. "Yes, I know."

"Do you know why she's back?" She shook her head, "Em, please?" He coaxed almost silently.

What on earth was she going to tell him? She'd promised Mickey that if asked she'd tell Ash the truth but now she was confronted with him she wasn't sure she could do it. "It's to do with her husband, something about conning him in order for her to be able to leave him."

"Not so easy the second time around then." He said bitterly.

Emma's hand rested on his arm, "don't be like that, the circumstances are different."

"How?"

Well she wasn't going to tell him that, "he has some kind of financial hold over her, something to do with the fact that he was nothing until they got married and then he got his hands on her money."

"I see; she wants to feather her nest for her and the kid then. That makes sense." Maybe there was hope for him yet. "So why didn't she want me to know?"

Emma shrugged, "I have no idea, perhaps she felt you might get a little personal?"

"I don't want to know what she's been getting up to over the last ten years with her husband."

Emma went to get up, "but you want her back in your bed." She giggled at his horror filled face. "It's not that bad is it, sleeping with you?"

"Oi, you saucy git," he laughed getting up with her and watching her make her way towards the stairs. On the floor was a piece of paper, he bent down picking it up and holding it in the air, "wait, Em, you've dropped something."

"No, I haven't," she called back before the event of those days before replayed in her mind's eye, "Oh shit," she clambered back up the stairs. "On second thoughts, I did." The expressions on her face quickly turning dour as she watched him read the document.

He looked up towards Emma, his face a mixture of anger and disbelief, unshed tears being blinked back as he stood motionless, the document still in his hands. Within seconds he'd picked up his jacket and walked down the stairs, all the while Emma attempted to bring him back to her but it was almost as if he had gone deaf. The door slammed between them as he walked out of the suite.

"Shit," Emma screamed running into her room and picking up her phone. She rang Mickey, "we've got a problem. Ash saw the birth certificate."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/n: Hoping that you're all still enjoying the Ash and Imogen show, here's the next part of the Morgan saga. Rating will definitely go up to M on the next chapter. Thanks for reading and reviewing especially Handy!**

**Disclaimer: All characters, storylines, etc belong to Kudos and the BBC except those that are explicity of my making. Thanks to Dido for using part of her song 'Here with me' from her album 'No angel', heard it on the radio yesterday and thought how appropriate the words were.**

Chapter 4

It was ten o'clock on the dot when Albert arrived at Imogen's suite at the Royal Lancaster, bringing Tom with him. Knocking politely on the door before he put the key card in the lock, he allowed the boy to run to his mother as soon as they walked over the threshold. The sight of mother and son embracing brought a tear to the old man's eye as he thought back to times when he too had hoped to have a family. But it hadn't happened quite as he'd hoped; picturing Lily Bonds in her silver dress he had to smile to himself as he thought about what could've been.

Before him, Imogen fell to her knees as Tom ran towards her, her arms open wide until his were about her neck, tears cascading over her face as the two reunited. She held him close for as long as the child could stand it, kissing his head profusely as she whispered soothing words to him.

Albert took a seat, smiling at the pair. Finally, they stopped embracing; Imogen's hand held Tom's tightly, leading him over to the sofa and allowing him to crawl into her lap. "How've you been with Eddie?"

The boy shrugged as best he could as he nestled himself against his mother's body, one of her hands gently stroking through his hair, "its ok, I'm a bit bored sometimes."

"Why?" Imogen asked.

"Because Eddie's always working." He pouted, causing Albert to laugh and his mother to smile.

"He's a busy man, Tom. He has a business to run." She pacified.

"I know, but he treats me like I'm a workhouse boy." Imogen's concerned eyes met Albert's across the room. Albert shook his head and mouthed 'no' to her. "That's what Ash says anyway."

"Ash?" She asked hesitantly, her hand stopping atop his head.

"Yeah, he's brilliant. Takes me to the park and plays football with me and Sean too. But he can't keep up with us."

Ash and Tom bonding? Imogen wasn't sure if she liked the sound of that. "Well, he's a little old to be playing football with you."

"I know. I keep telling him to be careful because of what happened to uncle Talos."

"What happened to uncle Talos, Tom?" Albert asked the boy, from the look of panic on Imogen's face a change of conversation was definitely in order.

"Well he smoked a lot, didn't he mamma?" She nodded, "he used to run around everywhere and he'd play football with me too, until one day we were playing and he had a heart attack. Fell on the floor, grey as an elephant, I didn't know what to do so I shouted for someone but no one came. In the end I ..."

Albert could see that Imogen's demeanour had taken a turn for the worse but he couldn't understand why. "What, Tom, what did you do?"

"I searched for someone to help me and went into a room where there were lots of men talking. I found babbas but he was angry with me. He scolded me and told me to get mamma."

"Tom, that's enough" Imogen all but screamed.

"But mamma, Albert wants to know what happened, don't you Albert."

Albert didn't really know what to say. He wanted to understand what had happened to this misfortunate young woman and her son but on the other hand. "Not if it is too painful for your mother. Did you tell Ash all of what you've just told me?" Albert asked the question that Imogen, quite clearly, couldn't ask herself.

"No, only about the heart attack, I thought it was best to tell him about the dangers of smoking too much and leave it at that." Relief washed over his mother.

Albert took to laughing. "So what did Ash do?"

"He took the cigarette he'd just lit from his mouth and stamped it out on the ground."

Albert couldn't help but laugh some more. "My boy, you'll get him to quit yet." His phone began to ring. Looking at the caller ID he got up from his seat and motioned towards the bedroom. Imogen indicated that it was ok and so he left mother and son to talk whilst he took his call, "yes? ... well no, he's not here, why? ... oh dear ... do you want me to say anything? ... ok. I'll keep it as we discussed, she's just becoming reacquainted with her son at the moment anyway ... I'll do my best, Emma. See you soon ... bye."

As he reclaimed his seat, he observed Imogen and her son once more. They looked so happy together and yet, with the information that Emma had just imparted, the day for them was set to become a little unpleasant. He only hoped that Mickey would find Ash and calm him down before Ash decided he wanted to come and talk to Imogen and, with any luck, the situation would be diffused before that happened. However, Albert knew that whatever Mickey said to Ash, Ash would never let any of it drop until he had the full picture.

**.oOo.**

As Ash walked towards Eddie's he decided that he'd never been so angry about anything in his life before. The facts as set down on the certificate he'd just seen didn't seem to fully compute but even he realised that they had to be true; Imogen just wouldn't have allowed her son, their son, he corrected mentally, to have false documentation, it just wouldn't happen. And when he delved a little further into his psyche he knew that the boy that he'd found sitting on Eddie's front step just over a week before did seem to bear a resemblance to himself, even if it did seem a little difficult to comprehend.

He had a son, the words kept flitting around his head making sure that he knew it, but he couldn't put his finger on how that felt to him. Was it good? Well yes, to be able to have someone tangible in his life that was absolutely his, made him feel real, made him realise he was only mortal. He was a father now; he had responsibilities and obligations to another person, another human being, to his son. But then it was bad too. Grifter's weren't meant to have families, it just wasn't the done thing, to be a grifter you had to have the ability to walk away from anything or anybody at a moment's notice and he knew, deep down, that he would never be able to do that to Tom. Tom was his; there was no way he was going to allow anyone to take Tom away from him, especially now that Ash knew about him.

Had this been what Imogen had not wanted him to know about? It seemed plausible. After all, when she had left she had gone without a fight, without a word even. One final night together before she quietly up and went. Had that been the night that it had happened? As he thought back over the events that had led up to that night he doubted it, not to mention the boy's birthday. She'd been attempting to lure him into something more solid for a little while before she'd actually gone so he guessed she'd known for a while. He just couldn't understand why she'd not said anything to him at all. He'd have supported her, there was no doubt about that, but she'd obviously wanted more and believing that he wouldn't give it to her she'd run off into the night, never to be seen again. Until yesterday.

Flying down the alleyway towards the bar door, he nearly collided with a couple of businessmen that had just emerged from one of the surrounding offices. He muttered his apologies as he pushed the door to the bar so hard it nearly came off its hinges, the wood frame splintering slightly as the door hit the wall behind. He ran down the stairs before zooming in on his prey, making a beeline for Eddie as soon as he was spotted. "What the bloody hell does Imogen not want me to know Eddie?" By the time Ash had finished his sentence he had Eddie up against the wall, his arms pinning Eddie in position.

Eddie looked genuinely scared, "I don't know what you're talkin' 'bout?" Eddie screamed as Ash continued to hold onto him.

"When I bought the boy down here last week, Stacie said, she doesn't want Ash to know. Well what does Imogen not want me to know? It's a simple question Ed, which involves you answering me very quickly."

"Ash, mate, look, I'm not sure. You're really hurtin' me."

"Just tell me what she said and it'll stop!"

Eddie's mind was flustered, "she married a Greek ... er ... Tom's 'er son."

"I know about Tom, what else?"

"Erm ... Ash, I'm not feelin' too good," Eddie coughed, bile rising up from his stomach. "Er ... keepin' 'er son safe an' away from ... she's run away, yeah, she's run away."

The door slammed back against the wall for a second time, "Eddie, have you seen Ash?" Came the question from the unmistakable voice of Mickey. As soon as he had made his way down a couple of steps and could see into the bar, Mickey realised that Eddie was in need of some help. He ran down the stairs as quickly as he could before trying desperately to pull Ash off of Eddie, but Ash was a man possessed and far too strong.

"What else, Ed?" Ash shouted.

"God, I can't think."

"Ash, leave him alone,"

Mickey tried to coax his friend away from the barman but Ash was having none of it, "stay out of it, Mick."

"I can't, Ash. Eddie doesn't deserve what you're doing to him."

Ash looked back at Mickey, his eyes wild. "I need to know everything, I need the truth."

"And you will, you'll get all of it, I promise, just put Eddie down."

The red mist lowered and Ash stepped back, his eyes blinking furiously as he calmed himself. None of this had been Eddie's fault and yet Ash had felt the need to vent his frustrations on one of the only people that truly knew him. "I'm sorry, Eddie, I don't know what came over me."

He stuck out his hand; the visibly shaken barman hesitated before taking and shaking it. "It's ok; you scared me a bit though. Thought we were meant to be mates?"

"We are, Ed. I'm just not thinking straight, that's all."

"Do you think we can all sit down with a cappuccino and chat about this?" Mickey interjected, "you too, Eddie, might need some input from you." Ushering Ash to their normal booth he sat down opposite him, "do you want to tell me what's rattled your cage?"

"You wouldn't be here if you didn't already know." Ash moped.

"You found the copy of Tom's birth certificate."

Ash patted over the breast pocket of his jacket, "right here. Thing is, I don't understand why she's never told me."

"What man ever understands why a woman does what she does?" Mickey grinned, Ash sniggered and smiled. "I do know one thing though, Ash. She loved you very much; you could tell just from the way she looked at you. Ask Albert and Stacie the same question and they will tell you the same answer. She must have found it extremely painful to leave you especially with the secret she kept from us all for so long."

Ash nodded, he'd loved her too, still did by all accounts. "Eddie said she ran away from her husband. Do you know why?" Eddie arrived at the table with the three coffees on a tray. Ash picked up one as the barman took a seat next to Mickey and passed him his drink too. "Ta, Ed." He smiled at the Northerner.

"We only know what Stacie has told us, although she's got photos too."

"Photo's of what?" Ash asked demurely, although his insides were knots. His gut was telling him it had to be bad news.

"Ash, he beat her, allegedly."

Ash looked between both Mickey and Eddie. "What do you mean allegedly?"

"I mean I haven't actually see Imogen's body, but from the photo's that Stacie has shown us she's been through a tough time."

Ash's stomach churned as he gulped back the vile taste in his mouth, "have you seen the photo's Ed?"

Eddie shook his head, "no. But Stacie told me that this husband of Imogen's knocked 'er about a bit."

"Imogen could be lying, she's capable of it," Ash suggested, although his gut was telling him that she wasn't, "but why would Stacie lie to us?"

"Ash, she wouldn't. Besides she mentioned that she and Danny had taken the photos before leaving America."

Ash slugged back half his cappuccino, "sorry, but forgive me if I don't believe Imogen until I've seen her with my own two eyes, then ..."

Mickey didn't like the sound of this, "then?" He ventured but was ignored.

"Who's she married to?" Ash sat back into the booth, his arms now crossed over his chest.

Mickey sipped at his drink, before sighing and cocking an eyebrow. "You're not going to like this."

"Try me!"

"George Liakos."

"Who?" Eddie put in, his eyes wide with anticipation.

"What the hell did she get involved with him for?"

"Who is 'e?" Eddie asked again.

Mickey shrugged, "In all fairness to her, I don't suppose she knew who he was when she got involved with him, but that is purely speculation on my part. He wasn't exactly big fry when she left us." Mickey finally looked at Eddie, "from what we know about him he's a Greek drugs baron with fingers in other pies too."

"He also has dealings with the Mob, Ed. Nasty bastard by all accounts."

"And Imogen was such a nice girl," Eddie muttered as he took the cups away to be washed.

Ash and Mickey watched Eddie go before Ash leant forward towards Mickey, "why didn't you tell me."

"Because Imogen asked us not to."

"I thought we were mates."

"We are, I'd do anything for you Ash, and on this occasion I thought it was best if you didn't know."

"And why did Em want me to know?"

"She could see that you'd find out, however even she didn't think you'd find out as quickly as you did. She's glad you did, though."

"Me too, at the moment. So is there anything else I should know, anymore secrets?"

"Just one," and possibly the worst secret of all, "and I promise you that Albert only did what he did was because he cares about you a lot and he believed it to be the right thing."

Ash sighed, "and we like doing the right thing, don't we?"

Mickey nodded, "yes." He paused not sure of how to start, "Albert knew that Imogen was pregnant when she left."

"What?" Ash couldn't believe it, for ten years Albert had kept vital information from him.

"Ash, he never actually knew the baby was yours, but he knew it wasn't Liakos' and he knew that Imogen had never cheated on you either. He only found out because her father pleaded with him to talk to her and try and change her mind but she wouldn't have any of it. If it's any consolation, he feels it's his fault she went off and married Liakos; which quite honestly I've already told him he's not responsible for."

"She made her bed," Ash said absently, "no one could've made her stay."

Mickey smiled, "I don't think that's strictly true. There may have been one person."

Ash met his gaze, and reflected his smile, "yeah, maybe."

"Come on then, let's go and get this mess sorted out," Mickey got up from the table; "I suppose we'll have to allow Emma time to gloat."

Ash slapped Mickey on the back, "no doubt, mate." As they walked through the bar to the stairs, Ash caught Eddie's eye. "I'm sorry Ed, women troubles. Look, I'll come back and fix the door later on."

Eddie watched Ash and Mickey take the steps up to the outside world, "door?" He suddenly asked, "what do you mean Ash," he moved to the foot of the stairs, "what've you done to me bleedin' door?"

**.oOo.**

"Perfect, only one more and I'll have a full set," Imogen had just about had enough of all the house guests that had all seemingly taken root in her living room, she paced the floor to the window, her back to the room. "And to what do I owe this pleasure, Mickey?" she said, taking in the view outside, before turning back to the door. She blinked a couple of times; no he was still stood in the open doorway, "Ash?"

"Hi, Imi." He shoved his hands into his jacket pockets, "long time no see."

"You saw me last night." Looks were exchanged and mouths opened in shock all around them but for Imogen and Ash it was just the two of them.

"Yeah, took me a little while to work you out but it was the accent that gave you away in the end." She nodded.

She made a move towards the centre of the room; he was now inside, the door firmly closed behind him. "What do you want?"

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why didn't you want me to know?"

"Want you to know what, Ash?" The frustration was beginning to wear her down.

"About Tom being mine."

"He's not yours," she said quickly, without thinking.

He shook his head, looking up to Mickey before pulling the document from his pocket and opening it up. He laughed before the sullen expression crept back upon his features, "why is it my name down as being the boy's father then?"

"Mamma?"

Imogen looked around her, trying to locate an ally and finding one in Sean. He took Tom off into the bedroom. "Well?" Ash asked again.

"He's yours," she said miserably, "I found out just after we'd finished off the Teddington con. And just before we had that massive row about being together."

"Why didn't you tell me then?" He shouted at her across the void.

"You'd just told me that you didn't want me," she shouted back, "you were hardly likely to change your mind just because I was having your baby."

"I would've paid my way."

"Do you think that's what I wanted for our child?"

"I'd have supported you in any way you needed me to, I just couldn't be with you, it wasn't fair."

"Fair on whom exactly? Are you hearing yourself, Ash?" She hung her head momentarily, "I didn't want your money or your support, the only thing I wanted was a father for our child."

"So you went and married George Liakos?"

"He was a decent man once."

"Did you love him?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"Did you ever love him, Imi?"

She shook her head, "no." She said; her voice barely audible as the tears flowed freely.

"Take your blouse off." He ordered.

"What?" Confused, she searched his face but found nothing there to indicate what he was asking of her.

"Take your blouse off, Imogen." He said with more force.

"I hardly think this is appropriate," Stacie called out, "Mickey?"

"I'm with Ash on this one," Mickey said from the sidelines.

"How could you?" She screamed out, "she's been through a living hell and now you're both making it worse for her. I'd never thought you capable of this, Ashley Morgan." Ash turned to look at her, "Danny and I took photos." She pleaded.

"No good, Stace, sorry. Need to see for myself." He looked back to Imogen aware of the hurt that he was causing her but this needed to be done he kept trying to reason with himself; his heart going out to a destitute Stacie too, who he could hear crying behind him, Emma comforting her. "My patience is wearing thin, take off your blouse, or I'll do it for you."

Defiant eyes looked deep within his, "ok, Ash, you do it, after all what's one more bully in my life."

He wasn't proud of himself, but he wasn't a bully either. His body compelled him to go on, stepping forward he felt his fingers reaching out, taking hold of the rich fabric within his fists and pulling the opening apart. She now stood semi-naked in front of him, her chest rapidly rising and falling as her heart race increased from the adrenaline rush that pumped through her veins. Ash wasn't much better himself. With the blouse still tucked into her trousers he couldn't see anything, so she had been lying. A smug expression flew across his face just long enough for her to catch it.

Closing her eyes, Imogen pulled the fabric from her body, a gasp resounded from somewhere behind her as she continued to stare Ash down. Then, as quickly, she turned around. The familiar criss-cross pattern of deep rooted scars, the tiny specks of red bruises as they now were and the large cigar burn that had all been evident in Stacie's photographs were now being shown to the rest of the room as a living proof. Emma choked back bile as Stacie continued to cry. Danny tutted and shook his head. Albert's face reflected compassion and sympathy. Mickey looked across to his crestfallen friend, his heart actually going out to both Ash and Imogen. How could they come back from this?

Albert was the first to speak up, "that's enough now."

Imogen's hatred filled face turned to Ash, "is it enough, Ash? Have you seen everything you needed to?"

An absent hand went up to touch the scars but Imogen's visible flinch was enough to make Ash feel as if he'd been burnt. "Sorry," he whispered before turning on his heel and striding from the room, the slamming door signalling his exit.

"Mickey, go after him," Albert ordered, Mickey stood rooted to the spot.

"I'm so sorry, Imogen," he said, before acting on Albert's instructions and following Ash.

Albert continued to issue orders. "Danny, take Stacie and Emma back to the hotel; get Sean to take Tom back to Eddie's too. I'll make sure Imogen's comfortable before I return." They left suddenly, leaving Albert and Imogen alone. "He's very sorry for what he did?"

Imogen was attempting to cover herself, "how could you possibly know that Albie?"

"I've known him a very long time, he never does anything without a valid reason but he would never knowingly ridicule you either. He must have had his reasons for doing what he did but he wouldn't have been very proud of the way he acted."

Imogen nodded, she knew enough about Ash to know that what Albert said was true. "I should hate him, but I don't."

"That's good," Albert smiled.

"If it's at all possible," she confided in him, "I love him more now than the day I left him."

Patting her arm he said, "he knows; I'm sure of it. Now go and relax, you look exhausted." Watching her take refuge in her bedroom Albert took the opportunity to leave, he had to go and see a man about a key card, anyway.

**.oOo.**

Ash had been stood in the very same spot on the Embankment that Imogen had occupied the night before when he was found by Mickey and Albert. It had taken them a while to calm down the crew's fixer but in the end Ash had been pacified, they'd put the world to rights and even smudged over the horrors that Ash witnessed every time he closed his eyes and saw Imogen's war torn back and hate filled face. "Go to her," Albert had coaxed him, "she needs a friend, someone to listen to her, to understand what she's been through, to be there for her when she needs a shoulder to cry or a body to hit out at. She'll open up to you, Ash." He'd nodded making a move to get a cab to take him back to her. Albert's hand had then found his wrist, beseeching eyes looking into his own, before passing the key card that he had over to Ash, "just don't be angry with her and don't judge her."

"I won't," was all he'd managed to say before leaving Mickey and Albert to their own devices. And now he stood outside her door for the second time that day, waiting and wondering what to do next, thumbing the edges of the key card that stayed firmly in his pocket. Should he really be doing this? _'Yes,'_ came the reply but he still hesitated. It wasn't until he heard voices coming towards him down the corridor that he decided to push the card into the reader on the door and let himself into the suite as quietly as he could.

The bedroom door stood slightly ajar and from beyond he could hear the slow rhythmic breathing of Imogen asleep. He smiled as every now and then she snored lightly, he hadn't heard it in so long but it was music to his ears and very comforting. He wandered around the living area looking for anything that would give him a clue to what her life was now like not that there was much, a couple of glossy magazines adorned the table, one opened out to show the latest catwalk trends from Milan. At least one thing hadn't changed, she'd always been partial to her designer clothes and when she and Stacie had gone shopping together the men instinctively knew they'd end up spending a fortune.

He noticed a stereo on the other side of the room and walked across to it, an iPod was plugged in with a jack plug. He picked it up and scanned through the artists, "no change there then," he muttered as he read through the eclectic mix of music she had upon it. The menu skipped back to the last song that had been played, paused halfway as it was. He pressed play, unsure of the song as it hit the speakers at full pelt before quickly turning down the volume and listening out for any signs of Imogen's waking in the other room. A snore signalled that she was still dead to world so he turned up the volume a crank in order to hear the woman singing.

The haunting melody of a song he'd recognised from at least ten years before filled his head, but it was the words that really drew him in.

_Oh I am what I am; I do what I want; but I can't hide._

_And I won't go; I won't sleep; I can't breathe; until you're resting here with me._

_I won't leave; I can't hide; I cannot be; until you're resting here ..._

Not being able to take anymore of the subliminal messages his brain was sending him he hit the stop button before leaving the iPod back in the place he had retrieved it from. He took a turn about the room noticing a cardigan thrown over the back of a chair, an open box of tissues on a table by the same chair and a bin too. He peered inside; she'd clearly used nearly half a box to wipe up her tears, black mascara tinting each of the used sheets. He stood up again seeing a newspaper upon the table with a pen on top of it. He went over pulling the paper towards him and seeing that in fact it was some kind of technology magazine. An article about batteries stared back at him; copious notes were scribbled around the edges in her elegant hand. If he didn't know any better, she had started working on a plan to get to her husband.

It seemed that any talking between them would have to wait as her slumber seemed heavier than it had when he'd first listened to her. He took off his jacket, laying it over the back of the same chair that her cardigan resided on. Opening up his collar a little bit he rolled up the sleeves of the white and pale blue checked shirt he had on before padding silently into her domain. For a few moments he stopped and watched her sleeping from the doorway, ascertaining if was safe to go on. It was. He looked around him for a suitable place to sit and spied a chaise longue situated under the window. Perfect, kicking his shoes off as he got to it and laying his long legs along the length of it, a cushion supporting his back as he sat and watched her sleep.

It had been such a long time since he'd done this that he realised it was just another one of those things he'd always enjoyed doing. It had always given him great comfort knowing that the one person he loved more than anything was sleeping soundly and even now it was no exception. For everything this woman had gone through she was obviously comfortable and that made him smile.

He remembered back to the first time he'd done it. His insomnia had been rife, keeping him awake and his mind active as he'd an awkward alarm system he'd been trying to work around. It had got to a point where no amount of work would help although compelling him to carry on, but his mind had been shutting down from overuse. He'd gone to bed but been too wired to sleep himself so he'd taken a seat by her side, watching her sleep as soundly as she was now, her breathing shallow but evident as her chest rose and fell in time along with it. When she'd woken in the morning he'd given her a fright, so much so that she'd scolded him but that had never stopped him and after she'd realised that he only did it for his own piece of mind she seemed to accept it and even invite it later on. She had once told him that she felt safe knowing he was there watching over her. But how would she feel now?

"What are you doing, Ash?" Imogen asked bringing him out of his reverie.

"Shh," he whispered, "go back to sleep, love, we'll talk later on." She seemed to understand and turned over, her rhythmic breathing taking over her once more. He smiled; at least she hadn't thrown him out. Not yet anyway.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/n: I've tried to be as delicate with this spot of loving as I can, trying to keep characters here has been a bit of drama and I hope I've managed it. Hope you enjoy and please review, any feedback is gratefully received. Thanks to Handymelon and Molly Hunt for their continued support.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any charcters, landscapes, hotels or anything else. They belong to Kudos, BBc, London, England, Great Britain and the world. All characters and plot that are not are expressly mine.**

Chapter 5

Imogen woke up to an almost Ash free room, after sitting up in bed she noticed that his shoes were still in the same place as he had left them before he'd stretched himself out on the chaise. She smiled; it had been good to know he was there; her saviour she hoped. She had an unexpected feeling of happiness, probably due to the fact that he hadn't seemed at all angry when he'd told her to go back to sleep.

Knowing that he had to be somewhere in the suite she got up to investigate, covering her midnight blue silky pyjamas with a long, matching dressing gown. She quickly strode across to the bathroom and put her ear to the door, if he was in there he was extremely quiet. She knocked once before entering, there was evidence that he'd had a shower but it had been a while since. Walking back into the bedroom she picked up her watch and looked at the time, 10.17; she'd slept for almost twelve hours.

Moving across the room to the other door, she hesitated, not that she understood why; after all, it was her suite. Pulling the dressing gown around her form she tied the belt and held the two sides of the deep neckline together over the top of her breasts; he'd seen enough yesterday, she decided. Her hand on the handle she opened the door and strode into the sitting room. "You're still here then?" She questioned as indifferently as she could manage.

"Looks like it," he smirked, "besides I wanted to make sure that sleeping beauty ate something before we had another row. Room service is on its way with some breakfast for you."

His thoughtfulness hadn't been lost on her and she mentally scolded herself for her lack of feeling. She thawed a little, "are you having some?"

"Would be rude not to, besides Stacie's ...

A/N: in order to continue reading this story please go to 'adult fan fiction .net' and find under Archives - Television - G through L - Hustle - Just Because We Do What We Do. Thank you


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